Dayton signing minimum wage bill

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Mark Dayton is capping a push to raise Minnesota's minimum wage with a ceremony to sign the bill doing just that.

Dayton planned to turn the bill into law Monday afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda.

Minimum wage workers will get a series of raises beginning this summer. For large employers, the mandatory pay will climb to $8 in August, $9 a year later and $9.50 in 2016. Smaller employers will also have to pay more, although the wage for them reaches only $7.75 per hour by 2016.

The bill also authorizes automatic raises in the years to come that will compensate for inflation. Unless state officials take steps to suspend the raises, pay could rise by up to 2.5 percent per year for minimum wage workers beginning in 2018.